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Andreas Maderna, PhD, is a global drug-discovery executive and medicinal chemistry leader with more than 20 years of experience advancing therapeutics from concept through IND and into clinical development.
Most recently, he served as Vice President and Global Head of Chemistry at Takeda, where he led a multi-site global chemistry organization and oversaw a broad small-molecule portfolio spanning neuroscience, GI/inflammation, and oncology. As a member of the Takeda Research Leadership Team, he helped shape portfolio strategy and evaluate external opportunities to strengthen the pipeline.
Prior to Takeda, Andreas served as Executive Director and Global Head of Tumor-Targeted Oncology Chemistry at AstraZeneca, leading a four-site global oncology chemistry organization, defining research strategy for targeted therapeutics — with particular emphasis on ADCs — and guiding cross-functional teams from hit identification through lead optimization.
Before AstraZeneca, he was Vice President and Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Sutro Biopharma, where he built the medicinal chemistry function from the ground up to support a diverse bioconjugation portfolio. His team discovered novel TLR7/8 agonists and PROTACs, initiated six discovery programs, and delivered two ADC clinical candidates.
Earlier, Andreas spent more than a decade at Pfizer in oncology medicinal chemistry, advancing through roles of increasing responsibility across reversible and covalent small-molecule inhibitors, agonists, epigenetic modulators, and ADC payloads. He served as chemistry research project lead for multiple immuno-oncology and epigenetic programs and originated a PDE5/IO-checkpoint inhibitor combination that was formally advanced into the Pfizer oncology portfolio. For his contributions, he received the Pfizer WRD Individual Achievement Award. He began his career as a Senior Principal Research Scientist at Valeant Pharmaceuticals, leading kinase-inhibitor discovery efforts.
Over the course of his career, Andreas has contributed to more than 10 INDs and 40 development candidates spanning diverse chemical modalities. He discovered the oral MEK inhibitor Refametinib, which was licensed to Bayer Healthcare and evaluated in multiple Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies. He also contributed to the early discovery of STING agonists that advanced to PF-07820435 in Phase 1 clinical evaluation, and served as the early chemistry project lead for Pfizer's KRAS inhibitor program, contributing to the later discovery of PF-07934040, now in clinical trials. Several ADCs incorporating small-molecule ligands discovered by his teams remain in clinical development for hematologic and solid-tumor indications.
At General Proximity, Andreas serves as Senior Vice President of Drug Discovery and Head of Chemistry, where he oversees the chemistry organization, leads asset development, and contributes to the company's scientific and portfolio strategy.
